Sunday, September 21, 2014

Odissi and Chhau dance (I will be
dealing in this article only with the Mayurbhanji variety of Chhau dance) are
two products of the rich cultural history of the state of Odisha; they
represent two important aspects of this history and are indicative of the two
major trends which characterize the region, the religious or bhakti component and
the martial one.

Although two branches of the same
tree, the two forms of dance had different and almost contrasting path of
development. While we can trace back the history of the Odissi form to the
nartaki depicted in the Rani Gumpha cave of Udayagiri
(200 B.C.) considered as the most
ancient dancing representation in stone , we don’t have much documents related
to the emergency of the Chhau dance before the 18th century A.D. On the other hand while Odissi had almost
disappeared by the beginning of the 20th century and it was only
after the Independence that the revival took place, the Chhau had reached its
climax by the beginning of the 20th century and lost its luster with the merger of the Mayurbhanji state in
1949, when having lost the patronage of
the Bhanji royal dynasty, it took some
time before the new Government came to its rescue.

Although we don’t have much
documents related to Chhau dance before the tenure of Maharaja Jadunath Bhanja
Deo (1822-1865 A.D.) we are never less
able to trace the development of the
martial trend in the history of
Odisha through the study of the paiks or infantry soldiers, their contribution
to the feudal structure of the region in terms of military service, valor and
prestige. From the phari-khanda (sword
play) and rook-mar (attack and
defense) exercise of the paiks to the full developed form of Chhau dance the path
has been one of continuous development and progression. The patronage of the
enlighten rulers of the Bhanji family have been determinant in bringing the
Chhau style to the highly refined level of codification and stylization
which characterizes the dance we see
nowadays.

One important event in the course
of this development has been the impressive performance put up by the Chhau
dancers (called paiks by the local
press of that time) in January 1912 for the reception of Emperor George V at
Kolkata. The item known as ‘war dance’ had been directly supervised by Sri Ram
Chandra Bhanji Deo and was a display of all the movements belonging to the attack-defense technique
brilliantly choreographed by the ruler and performed by 64 well trained dancers
from Baripada. From this stage onwards the style kept on developing adding new themes and movements drawn
from folk and tribal dances of the
region until it reached a vast repertoire of new and creative items.

While the Odissi style after an
almost virtual disappearance got a sudden revival and recognition at the
national level in the late 50’s and early 60’s and was able to attain the
status of ‘classical’ from the concerned authorities, the Chhau somehow, although gifted with all
the technical premises and with a well codified basic grammar, has not yet been able to get recognized in the classical
category. I have personally seen a lot
of refinement and improvement in terms of presentation of dance items and musical accompaniment in the course of the
last 30 years and I am quite sure this recognition is not far from coming. One
only hopes that the young generation of dancers who are nowadays practicing the
art form will continue to do it with the
same amount of dedication and commitment which the gurus and practitioners of
the earlier generation had shown.

Technical differences

The basic steps (thabaka and uphli) ) of the Chhau style belong to the desi category of akasiki chari (Sangita Ratnakara) or aerial
steps whereas the Odissi ones are more akin to the bhumi chari or earthly steps. In
the akasiki chari the feet and
legs are moved at different levels above the ground before being placed down,
whereas in the bhumi chari the
raising of the feet from the ground level is much less. Since in Chhau the legs
are used to depict actions which in Odissi would be shown by the hands and arms
movements, the leg movements are bound
to be much wider and acrobatic than in other styles.

Some of the akasikichari we find in
the Chhau style are:

-vidyubhranta-throwing up the foot in front and moving it around
above the forehead quickly before placing it on the ground. This corresponds to
the sintha-pada in Chhau (putting vermillion spot on the forehead).

-purahksepa-throwing up the kunchita
foot and stretching it forward quickly place it on the ground. This corresponds
to the chhodadia in Chhau ( spreading
the cowdung on the courtyard)

-harinapluta- jumping up with the foot bent and letting it fall
repeatedly, In Chhau this is called harinadia ( the jump of the deer)

-damari- is the circular movement of the bent foot to the left and
to the right. This is similar to the gobara-gala of the Chhau (mixing cow dung and
water)

-jangavarta- where the
sole of the foot moving inwards is thrown at the back of the knee and the sole
of the foot moving outwards is thrown at his side. In Chhau this is called antamuda
(swinging of the hips)

-suchi- after placing one foot by the side of the thigh it is
stretched pointing the end. In Chhau this is called baga macho kujia (the crane searching for fish in the pond)

Among the 108 karanas (co-ordination of movements of
hands and feet) described in the Natya Shastra the ones most used in Chhau are vrscika
( one of the leg is bent towards the back), vishnukranta
(one leg stretched in front) and lalata
tilaka ( put tilaka on the fore-head with the big toe).

The basic movement of the upper
torso (dheu-wave) in Chhau is in a frontal back direction whereas in
Odissi is in a sideways direction. The frontal back direction (agrachala prusthi) in Odissi is used
only in specific movements depicting water and peacock gaits.

Some similarities between the Odissi and Chhau
technique are the following:

-eka bhudha ghura (single leg spin) is similar to the ekapada bhramari of Odissi

-chalaka (quick sideways movement of the feet) is called chapaka in Odissi, used very often in abhinaya

- thamaka of the Chhau is called sarana
chari in Odissi, when one foot advances sideways and the other slides nearby
with a quick movement

The two basic poses of tri-bhanga
and chowka are present in both the
styles but the Chhau tri-bhanga
called dharana has the feet at a
distance of 12” whereas in the Odissi one the distance is of 6”. The position
of the arms in Chhau (right one up suggesting holding of the sword and left one
thrown in front suggesting holding of the shield) and the more open position of
the chest transform the feminine and
graceful Odissi tri-bhanga into a
masculine and virile stance. The chowka
remains more or less same in both the styles except for the position of the
arms: the Odissi 90 degree sideways position of the hands in pataka hasta resemble the iconographic figure of
Jagannath, to whom this dance was offered as seva, whereas the upper and lower position of the Chhau arms
suggesting the holding of sword and shield establish the martial derivation of
the style.

It is interesting to observe how
the basic squatting position of the knee and triple deflection at the neck, waist and knee is present in
both the styles, as reflection of their
belonging to the same regional context and how from these two common
basic postures the two styles have developed in a opposite and complementary
directions, as reflection of their different purpose and finality.

I consider the two styles
complementary to each other in terms of energy, body language and aesthetic
quality. The elegance and lyrical quality of
Odissi infuse
elegance into the Chhau whereas the virility and lightness of the Chhau
infuse stability and control into the Odissi.

From practicing the Chhau movements one can develop better
stamina, sense of balance and elasticity of muscles while from practicing the
Odissi one develops command over rhythm and control over the micro-movements of
hands, eyes and facial expressions.

When the two styles are
compared, the Odissi
is often described as the lasya or feminine component and the Chhau as the tandava
or masculine one; this definition does not give justice to either of the
styles. Elements of lasya and tandava are present in both the styles, it is the energy-quality
which differs. While practicing both the styles one can really feel the different
way the body is energized by the two
forms of movements and realize the type
of complementary energy which in the process gets released.

During the training period it
maybe difficult to keep the two styles
separated and some movements of one style may infiltrate and ‘pollute’ the
execution of the other, but once the two styles have been mastered, there is no
doubt that they enrich each other and
offer a vast spectrum of possibilities in terms of creative choreographies.

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About Me

Dr. Ileana Citaristi is an Italian-born Odissi and Chhau dancer, based in Bhubaneshwar, India. She was awarded the 43rd National Film Awards for Best Choreography for Yugant in 1995 and conferred with the Padma Shri in 2006 for her contributions to Odissi.
Besides Yugantar, a Bengali film directed by Aparna Sen for which she won a National Film Award in 1996, Dr. Citaristi has also choreographed for M.F. Hussain's Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities (2004) and Goutam Ghose's Abar Aranye (2003). Dr. Citaristi is also the author of two books. In 2001, she published The Making of a Guru: Kelucharan Mohapatra, his Life and Times and in 2012 the Traditional Martial Practices in Orissa.